High Court Judge, Justice Paul Madigan will hand down his sentence to the eight men convicted of conspiracy to murder the Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, at 3:30pm tomorrow.

Justice Madigan made this announcement in court in the last hour after the mitigation for the eight men came to an end.

In their mitigation, all the eight men have asked for non-custodial sentences, saying they had played a minimal part in the meetings that were conducted.

Several character witnesses were also presented, with the defence counsel and the eight convicted men hoping that non-custodial sentences are handed down.

National Director of the SDL Party Peceli Kinivuwai appeared in court as a character witness for Qaranivalu Ratu Inoke Takiveikata, who has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder the Prime Minister.

Kinivuwai told the court that Ratu Inoke was one of the architects of the SDL Party following the upheavals of 2000.

The second character witness for the Qaranivalu was Reverend Pastor Poate Mata, who is the Chairman of the Spiritual Development Committee of the Province of Naitasiri.

Ratu Inoke's lawyer, Akuila Naco then told the court that Ratu Inoke is 63yrs old, is married with nine children, and is the sole breadwinner.

He said in the whole scheme of things for which he stands convicted, Ratu Inoke's involvement was minimal.

Naco also highlighted Ratu Inoke's medical condition that he had to undergo an operation because of exposure to the conditions at Naboro Maximum prison while he was serving time in prison.

Naco said that the court is a court of justice but also a court of mercy and they seek mercy and a second chance.
 
Khan asked the Justice Paul Madigan during mitigation that he consider the degree of participation for the six men that he represents, for example, for Metuisela Mua, Khan said his name never popped up until after the 14th meeting and he never attended any other meetings and so to take this as well as him being 66yrs old, into account.

Khan also said that for Eparama Waqatairewa, the only thing that he was guilty of was drinking grog there adding that Waqaitarewa never took part in the meetings.

He also pointed out that Kaminieli Vosavere and Pauliasi Namulo's degree of participation was also minimal as they were present but did not take part in the meeting.

Defence Counsel Iqbal Khan also stressed to High Court Judge Justice Paul Madigan to treat his clients Barbados Mills and Feoko Gadikibau convicted of conspiracy to murder as first offenders under the Penal code, despite the two being convicted to five years imprisonment by the General court martial on mutiny charges.

Khan while mitigating on behalf of Mills and Gadekibau pointed to the details of previous convictions on the two presented in court by State Prosecutor David Toganivalu which shows nil convictions.

Khan said the two must be treated as first offenders saying that while the two had been convicted on the mutiny charges, it does not come under the crimes in the penal code.

A character witness for Gadekibau, Pastor Sisa Ro Uluilakeba told the court that Gadekibau was involved in helping the youth group in his community and a trust worthy man who was different from others in the area as he never got involved in criminal activities and decided to join the army.

Character witness Pastor Pio Asaele told the court that Barbados Mills has suffered through his life and that his wife is expecting their second child sometime this week.

Khan informed the court that Mills is 42 years old and the case has been hanging over his head for three years, making life hard for him and his young family.

Khan has highlighted that all the accused were held in custody for 40 days and that they were allegedly brutally assaulted during their arrest.

He urged the court to consider these issues when deliberating on an appropriate sentence.

Khan also asked the court to consider that the victim did not suffer any psychological impacts as the plan was never carried out.

He also suggested to Judge Madigan to consider the element of entrapment saying it should be considered as a mitigating factor in the case.